West Ashley High School senior Stephen Maddy was recently named the Trident Region’s Technology Champion of the Year.

Maddy will be recognized and awarded with a State Department of Education Office of Career and Technology Education certificate and a check for $250 at the S.C. Education Business Summit at the TD Convention Center in Greenville, South Carolina on June 26th He did not earn this award overnight; Maddy’s passion for computers began in middle school. “Teachers would make me mad, so I would break computers and then I would have to fix them.” This made him realize that he loved working with computers and could find a way to get along better with his teachers.

By the time he got to high school, Maddy was helping lots of teachers with their technology and computer issues in his free time. “I like being able to help teachers and share my knowledge with others.” During his sophomore year at West Ashley High, Sandra Pennekamp, the Career and Technology Education Department Chair, noticed Maddy’s hard work. She asked him if he would be interested in putting his skills to use and becoming a part of a Work-Based Learning class that dealt strictly with Information Technology (IT). Maddy was the first student in this class. Soon other students wanted to join the class, like sophomore Brain Hawkins, who is now Maddy’s intern. They have been an invaluable help this school year. Together, they install programs on computers; fix SMART Boards, repair teacher computers, ensure computers in the student labs are working properly, install printers, set up computers for testing, and many other things.

In 2014, Maddy worked as a summer intern with Charleston County School District’s Information Technology Department. They were so impressed with his abilities that he was hired as part of their Youth Apprentice program. Maddy worked closely with members of the district’s IT department to help set up all of the computers at Charleston County schools so that they were ready for the coming school year. As a senior, he is enrolled in Dual Credit classes at Trident Technical College.

Maddy is especially proud of the ticketing system that he helped create which keeps track of all needed computer and technology repairs in the building. Teachers fill out a form in Google Drive which then populates in an Excel sheet where Maddy and his intern complete the repairs in the order in which they are received.

Chad Vail, CCSD’s Work-Based Learning Partnerships Coordinator, has long been a supporter of Maddy, noticing his work ethic early on, and encouraged him to enter this competition. Maddy had to get three letters of recommendation and fill out an application in order to be considered for this honor. Maddy’s hard work paid off and he was named the Trident Region’s Technology Championship of the Year. He will be traveling to Greenville, SC on June 26, 2016 to attend the S.C. Education Business Summit to receive his award.

Story submitted by Donnie Newton, Public Relations Coordinator at West Ashley High School

ACE Program focuses on Architecture, Construction Management and Structural Engineering

Students from St. Johns High School recently took a tour of a live historic renovation project located at 1 Broad Street in downtown Charleston.Mr. Darwin Shorters and his students interacted with the Project Manager and the HVAC Engineer in addition to other contract workers on site.
Students were lucky enough to meet the Project Owner who happen to stop by the project. The students enjoyed learning about the history of the building and all the pros and cons to working on a renovation project of a historical building as opposed to work on a completely new build project. The history lesson included a story about the hole in the flooring on the second floor along with some charring of wood beams resulting from a cannon ball during one of the many siege events on the peninsula of Charleston.

The renovation project included removing a vault from the building that previously housed a bank. The students also explored a very unique hand craft roof system from the 1800’s.
Lastly, the students were able to have a little design time on their own project plan with the ACE mentors, and left with a new project of their own. In the next 3 weeks the students will sketch (architecture), develop construction timelines and budget (construction management), as well as complete the load calculation (structure engineering) for a Mobile Survival Shelter to help the homeless.
The presentation of this project will be given during the Annual Banquet May 17 at the Woolfe St. Playhouse 6:00 PM with Mayor Tecklenburg as the keynote speaker.

A group of future chemists and bio-engineers from Baptist Hill Middle High School recently enjoyed a facility tour of High Purity Standards, a regional manufacturer of basic elements used in a wide range of applications.

Thanks to Connie Hayes and her wonderful HPS staff for hosting these students for a rare visit to a working laboratory.

Garrett Academy of Technology was well represented at the South Carolina SkillsUSA Competition held April 15 – 16 in Greenville, SC.

“We are very proud of all 16 students who attended and did extremely well”, said Ms. Roxann Phillips, SkillsUSA Adviser, Architecture & Design Teacher, and CTE Department Chair at Garrett Academy of Technology.

The North Charleston High School’s culinary arts program recently hosted a practice event for the West Ashley High School ProStart team that will soon head to Dallas, Texas to compete in the ProStart 2016 National Competition.

Chef Jason Wheless and his state champion WAHS ProStart team ran through their entire process of food prep and plating. Chef Bill Twaler from Wando’s Culinary Arts program was also on hand to offer support and guidance.

North Charleston HS culinary students are excited to start their competition journey next year at the regional event. They all volunteered to help clean the kitchen after the event.”It was an awesome day for our students, and an experience they will not soon forget”, said Chef Cindi Welsh who leads the NCHS Culinary Arts program.

“We are very thankful – This practice will help our team immensely as we look to bring home a ProStart national championship!” said Chef Wheless.

Thanks to Doug OFlaherty with South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association for organizing the opportunity for WAHS to practice prior to their trip!

West Ashley High School senior Dillon Brown has truly enjoyed his work-based learning internship with Autometrics Motorsports, a well known Charleston auto shop that outfits cars for the racetrack. Autometrics also offers transportation services for cars, taking them to races far and wide, and serving as pit crew for their clients.

Dillon Brown (left) in the pits at the Porsche Club of America event in Atlanta during his spring break.

Dillon attended a Porsche Club of America competition in Atlanta over spring break and was a tire mechanic.

“Dillon has truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with Autometrics this semester, and get to travel with their pit crew”, said Mrs. Sandra Pennekamp, the Work-based Learning Coordinator for West Ashley HS.

“We are very thankful to the team at Autometrics Motorsports for giving Dillon this terrific work-based learning experience!” added Mrs. Pennekamp.